National Panchayati Raj Day (NPRD) is observed annually on April 24 in India which is organized by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to mark a defining moment in the history of decentralization of political power at the rural level because it was difficult for a single Chief Minister (CM) to look after entire state solely and solve their issues in the minimum time possible.
Key Points:
i.On this day our honourable Prime Minister (PM) Shri Narendra Modi will be addressing numerous Gram Panchayats in the Nation and this year PM will address via video conferencing due to COVID-19 pandemic.
ii.PM Narendra Modi launched the e-Gram Swaraj Portal and mobile app and the Swamitva scheme.
iii.About e-Gram Swaraj Portal: The Unified Portal is a new initiative of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj which will provide the Gram Panchayats with a single interface to prepare and implement their Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).
iv.About Swamitva Scheme: The scheme provides an integrated property validation solution for rural India, the demarcation of inhabited land in rural areas would be done by the use of latest surveying methods – Drone’s technology with the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Panchayati Raj Department, State Revenue Department and Survey of India.
v.Every year, on this occasion, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj organises National Conference and awards best performing Gram Panchayats with the ‘The Panchayat Shashakatikaran Puraskar/Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar’.
History of Panchayat Raj Day:
The first National Panchayati Raj Day was first celebrated on April 24, 2010, in India. The day marks the passing of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act 1992, that came into force from April 24, 1993.
In 1957, a Committee was formulated which focused on the evolution of Panchayati Raj in India and Balwantrai Mehta was appointed as the chairman of the Committee. As per the Committee’s report, it recommended a decentralised three Panchayati Raj hierarchy. It includes:-
- Gram Panchayat at the Village level.
- Panchayat Samiti at the Block level.
- Zila Parishad at the District level.
The names of representatives of the Panchayats were decided to be Pradhan, Mukhiya or Sarpanch, who is responsible for the rural development of their respective zones. Rajasthan became the first state to execute the Panchayati Raj system in 1959.
About Ministry of Panchayat Raj:
Headquarters– New Delhi.
Minister– Narendra Singh Tomar.
